48 Postpartum Tips From Real Moms

We’ve all heard the basics: sleep when the baby sleeps, drink water, take it easy. But what about the stuff that actually helps when you're in the thick of it? We asked our community to share their raw, unfiltered truths—the real gems that got them through those early postpartum days. The kind of advice you won’t find in a parenting book, but you’ll never forget once you hear it. Because sometimes the most powerful thing is knowing you're not alone in how you feel.

My best advice for postpartum is: HAVE A PLAN. And start planning early. Stock your freezer with warm, easy-to-digest meals. Prioritize warmth and rest. Incorporate healing herbs, have your partner give you massages, and call your community for support.  Below are 48 postpartum tips from real moms that you all shared with us on our Instagram.  Enjoy!

1. Get your minerals in! Magnesium, shilajit, herbal infusions, bone broths... high-quality salt!
   
   
2. Focus on your own mental health as much as you can, ask for help, see a lactation consultant as much as you feel necessary.
   
   
3. Fill a chest freezer of frozen meals. Between a meal train and our freezer stash, I was able to have dinner covered for almost 4 months after our second baby. It was amazing. Also, talk with your spouse about what you think you’ll want to do about visitors postpartum so you can set expectations while you’re not in the throes of 1–2 days post-birth. Obviously, with the caveat that it could change in the moment—but I found making those plans with a clearer headspace helped me so much after having our second!
   
   
4. Mine is: always say yes to support from friends and family to allow yourself time for rest and recovery and getting to know your little precious baby 🥰
   
   
5. Sunshine & water—typically always a cure for an unhappy baby and mama.
   
   
6. Nat Phos for colicky, refluxy baby—works like a charm—and chiropractic care.
   
   
7. Find your village. Women heal in community 🫶🏼
   
   
8. Remember that things might change once the baby comes and be different than you talked about prior. You might have said, “Of course I want you there right away, Mom!” and then realized you needed a week to bond with baby before she came. You might’ve said, “Of course I’ll return to work after 6 weeks!” and then realized, “No way am I leaving my baby for the first year.” You might’ve said, “I’ll do all the night feeds!” and then felt overwhelmed and needed a doula or hubby to do a night feed every few days. Things were so different for me after baby came and I kept trying to stick with my prior plan that didn’t feel right anymore and it sucked 😂
   
   
9. Herbal bath for you and baby after birth!!! So many benefits.
   
   
10. Seriously though, my advice: buy a Restorative Roots box. You will not be able to cook anything, no matter how simple!
    
    
11. Set up a “safe place” in every room you might need to leave baby in if you have to run to the bathroom or attend to something quickly. Make sure there’s something that smells like you, a toy that they love, a swing or some kind of container you know they’ll be safe in. If you deal with postpartum anxiety or rage and you need to quickly set baby down and go breathe in another room, you’ll know baby is safe and comfortable. It gives you just a little margin where you otherwise wouldn’t have it. Prepare for the worst and pray for the best.
    
    
12. When someone offers to help, LET them. Being a new mom on no sleep is no joke. Let them do your laundry, cook for you, hold the baby while you nap.
    
    
13. If you are breastfeeding, be sure you know what a proper latch is/feels like. It makes a world of difference, especially in the first few days when milk supply is establishing and it's a bit painful. ❤️❤️
    
    
14. Most important: have a baby with someone who will wholeheartedly support you with whatever you need during those couple of months.
    
    
15. Definitely the meal thing. Get a meal service! I didn’t at first, but when I finally did, it made a world of a difference. That’s if your support system doesn’t really know how to make nutritious meals.
    
    
16. Meal prep. Meal prep. Meal prep. Before baby comes and once baby is here, once a week. Breakfast casseroles, stews, soups, congees… Cosleeping saves your sleep and sanity.
    
    
17. Minerals before, during, and after pregnancy. Postpartum depletion is a real thing. Expect to lose yourself a bit. Every baby is a rebranding. Plan for help as long as you can, but don’t let people into that newborn bubble that you don’t want there. Don’t let anyone make you feel uncomfortable in your own home. Don’t be concerned about your postpartum body. Focus on nourishing yourself and your baby. Soak up every moment possible. Make a list of rules for people that come over to follow… (If you’re going to come over, please bring a meal. If you see something that needs done, please just do it. No perfumes or scented detergents. No illness of any kind in the past week.)
    
    
18. Co-sleeping can be done safely and it actually makes your life easier.
    
    
19. Have a plan but go with the flow. For example, have food on deck but flow with your healing and moods.
    
    
20. Ask others to help with house chores or homesteading chores if they want to come over and see you postpartum. Meal trains are always amazing! But truly, outsourcing help is a blessing and one that a mama shouldn’t feel bad about asking for.
    
    
21. Have easily digested meals & hydrating drinks ready to go/easy to prepare.
    
    
22. Tell your people what you want & need from them before your baby comes! Make lists of what needs to be done around the house so you don’t have to carry that mental load. If you have older kids, have your village focus on giving them attention when they visit.
    
    
23. Give yourself grace & binge-watch a good show (good for the soul & mind—not trash TV or anything too heavy).
    
    
24. Get a bouncer seat for the baby and put them in it whenever you need to go to the bathroom or have a shower—and put it where they can see you. Game changer!
    
    
25. Learn about breastfeeding! It doesn’t always come naturally like you think it will. And if you’re only wanting to give your baby breast milk, find a resource that can help you get donated breast milk if needed. I wanted to only exclusively breastfeed but it was harder than I thought. I wish I had known what kind of bottles were best and a resource for donated breast milk. Instead, I think I tried every bottle on the market and had to supplement some with formula. You’ll thank yourself later! 3 things I would have changed if I could do it over. But overall, you’re always just doing the best you can. Don’t beat yourself up 🩷
    
    
26. Hydrate with electrolytes and get outside—even if you have a winter baby!
    
    
27. REST! Don't compromise on this one.
    
    
28. Meal prep when you can, even if it’s for a couple days ahead—meals, snacks, etc. It’s hard, but try to not listen to all of the noise. Be in the bubble with your baby. Your connection is all that matters. You will instinctually know what to do.
    
    
29. Don’t just have a birth plan—have a postpartum plan that you create PRIOR to giving birth ❤️
    
    
30. Set boundaries with anyone outside your growing family. If your husband takes time off, it’s not to fit in as many visits from outsiders. It’s time to learn to be a growing family. People won’t understand—but boundaries and not explaining them will cause less drama, more snuggles, less entertaining, less exhaustion, more memories as a tiny family.
    
    
31. Gather your resources ahead of time: meal train, lactation consultant, pelvic physical therapist, etc.
    
    
32. Make and freeze meals and learn about wake windows, biologically normal infant behavior, and breastfeeding. Trust your instincts and don’t feel you need to bounce back or do anything physically demanding for months! ❤️
    
    
33. Make a ginger concentrate and freeze into little ice cubes to have as a warming and healing, quick and easy tea. Just add some honey 🥰 Bonus points for some turmeric added in!
    
    
34. Learn about breastfeeding and hire a proper lactation consultant before you have your baby. Only about 5% of women who “can’t” breastfeed actually can’t. The rest “can’t” due to lack of support and education.
    
    
35. Learn how to babywear. Start right from the beginning so you’re confident with your wrapping skills—or get a proper carrier that doesn’t involve a lot of wrapping but will allow you to comfortably wear your baby from birth into toddlerhood (look into DidyKlick, LennyLamb, Oscha). Not all baby carriers are safe or proper. I wouldn’t buy a single thing off Amazon. Really educate yourself on it because your baby’s safety and hip health depend on it.
    
    
36. Learn how to co-sleep safely. It might not be for you—and that’s fine—but if it is something that works, you want to make sure you’re doing it safely from the start and not passing out on a couch or recliner with your newborn on your chest or someone else’s, where they can fall off or get suffocated.
    
    
37. Make sure you’re having a baby with a man who’s going to take care of you while you take care of your baby. Your motherhood journey being enjoyable or stressful can very heavily depend on your partner. I personally wouldn’t have been able to be the type of mom I wanted to be if it wasn’t for my partner. I would not have kids if I had to go back to work, if I had to use formula (because my supply tanked due to stress or because he didn’t understand the importance of breastfeeding), or if I had to sleep train, etc. I have a partner who saw how staying home, breastfeeding, and co-sleeping were important to me—and he manned all the way up and did what he had to do to make sure I was supported and could be the mom I wanted to be. He knew it was what was best for baby and me as well. Husbands can make a lot of sacrifices in the first 1–3 years—or not—and that can greatly affect your stress levels and motherhood journey. I wouldn’t have enjoyed this without him, even though I would have loved my baby, obviously.
    
    
38. Don’t be shy about reaching out to your community for support, and communicate compassionately with your partner when planning ahead of time with all the things that you will need help with. Be honest and real with yourself about it all. Women and men go through a change postpartum, so both need to show each other true love and support.
    
    
39. Big trash bag in your bathroom for the first month—if your bedroom is upstairs, get a 5-gallon jug of water and a spout from Amazon so you’re not (or your husband isn’t) going up and down the stairs to fill your water.
    
    
40. Make your older kids' new chore to pick up the floor. It can be hard to bend over for a variety of reasons (C-section, babywearing, just tired). It makes the house 70% less overwhelming, prevents tripping hazards, and if they truly can't put it away, they can put it up on a surface where you can more easily deal with it.
    
    
41. Buy Restorative Roots or be prepared for at least 3–4 weeks of meals JUST FOR YOU. You need different nutrition than the rest of the family. Hire a postpartum doula if you can afford one. And finally, go easy on yourself. Let yourself heal. Take the time you need.
    
    
42. Find a local lactation consultant and have their number ready—or see them prenatally. Reclined and side-lying breastfeeding is a game changer. Follow the 5-5-5 rule. Learn about safe co-sleeping/bedsharing because it'll inevitably happen. Respond to your baby & follow their cues—there is so much garbage one-size-fits-all advice out there that divorces mothers from their intuition. Talk to your partner about expectations, especially for the first two weeks to a month! Get the Rael organic diapers postpartum—they're really that good. Get a baby wrap and a buckle carrier and use them as soon as you can—Solly, Sakura Bloom, LennyLamb, and Tula. The cheap ones you see that are popular aren't actually infant-friendly. Don’t waste your money on them.
    
    
43. Bedsharing and side-lying nursing. Literally changed my life.
    
    
44. Take all the help! Know your resources: lactation support, Postpartum Support International (postpartum.net), SNOWBALL. You are not meant to do it alone.
    
    
45. Focus on your mental health and don’t be close to anyone who makes you feel bad—because you will be more sensitive and tired from the lack of sleep. So any negative vibe from anyone will affect you 10x more than normal. Surround yourself with people who love you, understand you. If you breastfeed, chances are you will be more hungry than usual, so find someone who can cook for you (husband, family). If they are not available, either get a meal service or prep meals before giving birth and freeze them. Meals should be high in good nutrients. Eat lots of easy snacks like nuts.
    
    
46. Epsom salt bath. You can breastfeed while lying down on your side. Massage off all excess dry skin (if any) from bub’s scalp with coconut oil—organic extra virgin. I found this helps prevent cradle cap.
    
    
47. Iron, NORA tea, minerals. Protein, good fats... have all of this on hand and take it all!!!
    
    
48. Trust your gut! Take all advice with a grain of salt. Every mommy is different. Every baby is different!